This invention relates to a load spacer for use between adjacent articles or containers of freight in a shipping vehicle which may be collapsed to a compact package for shipment or storage but can be readily expanded for use. More particularly, this invention relates to a load spacer which is freestanding between the articles of freight and between the articles of freight and the walls of the shipping vehicle.
In the loading of a freight container, such as a railway boxcar or other shipping vehicle or container, it frequently happens that the loads placed therein do not completely fill up the available storage space. Thus, there are left one or more vertical spaces between closely spaced, adjacent unit loads of goods or between the load and the walls of the shipping container. These spaces should be filled to prevent side shifting of the load during transit which could cause damage to the load. Moreover, in some applications, it is desirable to separate the load from the walls of the shipping container to prevent the load from contacting the walls of the container. For example, when shipping goods in paper bags or like paper containers, e.g., bags of cement loaded in railway boxcars, the bags can be torn by the rough walls of the boxcars allowing the contents of the bags to spill. Thus, the load should be spaced from the walls of the shipping vehicle to prevent damage to the containers and to the load.
Prior to the present invention, various forms of load spacers or void fillers have been proposed for filling the spaces between adjacent unit loads of goods. One particular form of load spacer is a collapsible honeycomb structure in which a stack of rectangular strips of sheet material, for example, corrugated paperboard, are glued to adjacent strips at spaced and staggered positions such that when expanded the strips define a honeycomb having a plurality of cells. These prior art load spacers typically include one or more elongated, relatively rigid suspension members extending transversely of the honeycomb structure with the ends of the suspension members extending laterally beyond the planar sides of the structure. In use, the suspension members bridge the space and rest on the tops of the spaced loads. The spacer hangs from the suspension members between the pair of spaced apart articles of freight and expands downwardly between the articles under its own weight or it is pulled downwardly toward the bottom of the stack. When no longer needed, the load spacer may then be removed and stored in a collapsed condition for later use. Patents representative of this state of the art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,862,607, 3,842,757, 3,823,675, 3,618,535 and 3,593,671.
Exemplary of the prior art methods of suspending the load spacer between the articles of freight are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,618,535 and 3,593,671, where it is suggested that wooden slats be riveted to the upper or top strip of sheet material so that they may be swung to lie either between the lateral confines of the spacer or transversely of the structure. When swung to lie transversely of the structure, the opposed ends of the slats extend laterally beyond the sides of the spacer to provide bearing surfaces for supporting the spacer from the tops of the spaced loads. Since the suspension members, although pivotable about the rivets, cannot be moved in a direction transverse to the sides of the spacer, it is impossible to suspend the spacer from an end or side load by cantilevering one end of the suspension members from the top of the load of freight as would be required in suspending the spacer between the load and the end or side walls of the freight container. Another form of suspension system illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,757 involves the use of two pieces of wood such as pieces of wood lath which are inserted through the honeycomb cells beneath the top strip of sheet material. In this construction, it is not practicable to suspened the spacer at the ends or along the sides of the load because the wood lath cannot be cantilevered from the load without attaching it to the top of the load by some means. This is inefficient at best and may not always be possible.
Other suspension systems are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,862,607 and 3,823,765 wherein the suspension system includes a gimbal attached to the top sheet of the load spacer, for example, by means of pins or staples. Again, the use of these spacers around the periphery of the shipping vehicle is not practicable.